GOLDEN SUMMER
by LadyShadowNinja18
Summary: After the darkness of Twilight, the Cullens and Bella indulge in some well deserved summer fun. Sequel to FALLING STARS, and will be successed by MOONLESS NIGHT. Read, enjoy and PLEASE review :D 3
1. Chapter 1: Moving On

**Chapter One: Moving On**

**(Selene's POV)**

I grumbled as I sat in a metal folding chair set up for the families of the graduating class. My arms were crossed tightly across my body and I was slumped low in the seat. To put it simply, I was in a pouty mood.

Esme and Carlisle mentally tried to soothe my irritation, seeing as they were sitting on the other side of both Alice and Connor. Connor, which didn't surprise me, ignored my grumbles. It was understandable and I didn't bother me that he was a little standoffish when Rosalie wasn't around. He was new to the family and it would take a little while to get use to us. And us to him.

On either side of me sat Edward and Alice, both laughing at my displeasure, earning glares in turn from me. They both knew why I was acting like this, but they still found pleasure in laughing at me. Alice was in the same position as me, but I wouldn't have expected any company from her in being grumpy anyways. Never from Alice. She was the happy-go-lucky, perky little girl. So it didn't actually surprise me that she was all smiles despite what was going on today.

I frowned as the person giving the main speech approached the podium.

Seriously, I don't know why I hadn't bothered to try, but if I'd wanted to, I could have been sitting in that mass of blue and gold all seated in front of the audience. I could have been sitting with Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett. Well, I would have been the last Cullen in line, next to Rosalie. But the point was that I'd have been getting out of Forks High at the same time as my fiancé. No more pretending that I didn't know what was being taught yet. No more taking on boring days of listening to teachers drone on about things that not even they cared about most of the time. I would have been free to roam during the day with Emmett while Edward and Alice were bored to death in class.

Well, despite how grumpy I was, it was time to be civil. I straightened up in my chair, crossed my legs and folded my hands in my lap. A smile touched my lips in spite of myself. I leaned forward to look around to Edward's other side and smiled at Bella.

"First time for everything. This is you next year kiddo," I said to her.

She laughed and shook her head.

"Yeah. But you know how lonely I'm going to be sitting in line, waiting for my diploma? You three are going an eternity before me." She grimaced, thinking about whom she'd be sitting with, no doubt.

Edward laughed, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.

"Don't worry, Love. It'll only take a couple hours. It won't kill you." He flashed her that crooked smile that usually made her heart threaten to jump out of her chest. And, lo and behold, it had the same affect as it always did on her.

Turning away with a smirk, I focused on the end of the speech that the Valedictorian was making.

"…There have been tears, laughter, good times, and bad times. But all of them are ones that will live in our memories forever. Those times are the ones that will make up how we remember our high school years. Take a look beside you now, and all around you. Memorize their faces. Those are the people you shared those years with. Whether you knew them well, or not at all, they made High School what it was.

But now it's time for us to leave behind this place. Not the memories, but our places here. Now it's time to move on to live our lives outside the school environment, or go on to higher learning. Today is the beginning of the rest of our lives. The day we step away from being children and move up to being adults. Good luck Forks High School Class of 2005!"

She smiled widely and nodded her thanks for everyone's attention. Stepping down from the podium, the principal took her spot.

"Thank you Cheyenne. And now, let us begin graduating the class of 2005 with Alexander Aaron. Chad Anderson. Casey Anderson. Alexander Austin. Jessica Ayer. Christopher Bailey…"

She spoke their names loudly and clearly into the microphone so that all the humans could hear whom she was naming. It seemed to take forever for her to teach the names I was waiting for. I'd tuned out pretty much everybody else's, but a wide smile lit my face as she reached my last name.

"Emmett Cullen."

"Go Babe! Woo," I yelled loudly, yelling along with the crowd as well.

He turned towards me, grinned hugely and winked at me. If I'd been a human teenager, that probably would have made me blush profusely, but being a bloodless vampire, it only made me smile widely. I winked back.

The principal rambled off more names until she reached the H's.

"Jasper Hale."

Alice screamed a shrill high pitch noise and jumped out of her seat; clapping as if it were the first time she'd ever seen Jasper graduate high school. Edward, Bella, Connor, Carlisle, Esme and I just laughed, hooted and clapped.

"Rosalie Hale."

It was Connor's turn to be exuberant. His hands came together so loud that they sounded like thunder cracking through the football stadium.

"That's my girl!" He yelled, hooting the whole time she was on the stage.

She laughed and blew a kiss to him. And, in the most cliché, but cute all the same, way, Connor's hand went up and acted as if he'd caught the kiss. Holding his fist up to her as if in a toast and then putting it in his pocket.

It was kind of strange to see just how perfectly Connor and Rosalie fit together. I couldn't quite explain it, but I knew that Rosalie was happier than she'd ever been. And that was enough for me to allow my judgment of Connor to be passed at him not being a threat to our family. He seemed harmless in that sense, but there was also a fighting spirit in him that I knew would be very protective of what was his. Rosalie was in safe hands with a mate like him.

With my fiancé and my sibling's names out of the way, I slipped out of my seat to go to where Emmett waited for the rest of his graduating class to get their diplomas. None of the teachers were going to stop me, I knew for a fact. They all thought I was an angel and I pretty much had free reign of anywhere I wanted go. Even if I weren't a vampire, that intimidated them just by my walking by, I would have had no trouble getting to Em.

There was a slight breeze blowing into me, taking my scent away from Emmett's direction, so I crept quietly up behind him. A girl, I'm pretty sure her name was Alyssa, a few people down from him spotted me and a look of confusion crossed her face. I smiled kindly and lifted a finger to my lips and then pointed to Emmett. Alyssa glanced in his direction and then understanding flashed across her features. She grinned at me and nodded.

Once I was right behind Emmett I jumped up on his back, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, planting a light kiss on his cheek. He jumped at my touch, which was something you didn't witness very often with vampires. It was almost impossible to sneak up on one. Well, unless you knew exactly how to sneak up on them. Having known Emmett for decades, it made it pretty simple for me to surprise him.

His boisterous laughter filled my head, causing me to laugh as well. You just couldn't _not_ laugh once Emmett started. It was practically impossible.

Jumping down off his back, I grabbed his hand. He took a few steps back, getting out of line. Together we snuck away from everyone, this time, nobody taking notice of our disappearance.

Taking the lead, Emmett led me out of the stadium and into the surrounding trees. Once we were a good way in, he pushed me against the truck of one of the few red woods around and planted a kiss on my lips, all in one fluid movement.

"Oh this is much better than standing around in there," he growled playfully.

I kissed him back quickly, but then pulled back, slipping under his arm and disappearing around the truck of the tree, giggling. Poking my head around the other side to face him I smirked tauntingly.

"Really? Cuz I was under the impression that you wanted to be there." Oh yes, taunting him always worked wonders.

A dark eyebrow raised over one of his eyes and a playful glint met my challenge. He couldn't win this game, but he loved a challenge and never failed to try. In the end though, I always gave in, gave him a way to feel good about his efforts.

Emmett fell into a half crouch and growled. It was completely harmless, and I smiled wickedly, following his example. A slight hiss slipped between my teeth, and I darted up the tree. I hadn't been reading Em's mind though. And was surprised when I felt his arms coil around my waist before I was half way up the tree. He yanked my grasp away from the branch I was currently clinging to and launched us back to the ground.

"Gotcha Babe!"

After landing perfectly on his feet, he rolled, ending up on top of me. My arms were pinned above my head, and my hair was sprawled out on the ground around me. Emmett was straddling my waist with his legs hooked so that his feet were pinning my legs right under my knees.

Yet another growl escaped him before his lips were attacking mine. Releasing my arms, he rolled again so that hi was sitting and I was kneeling in front of him, his legs spread to allow me to wiggle a little closer. Our lips never left each other during that. But after a few minutes of letting him have his way, I took over again. I couldn't be having him forget just how much he couldn't push me around.

Moving my hands from where they were tangled I his dark hair to his shoulders, I pushed him down so that his back was on the ground. He didn't mind that at all. Large hands grasped my hips, coiled around my waist and then back to my hips. His lips trailed down my neck, across my spaghetti strapped shoulder and then back to my lips.

Just being with him made life worth living. Having him in my life made drinking blood seem not so pricey. The price of immortality dulled into a backdrop of worries when his smell was all around me. Nothing beat the feeling of knowing that Emmett loved me, no matter how stubborn or temperamental I could be. He ignored my personality flaws, claiming he loved me even more because of them. I couldn't have asked for a better person to spend eternity with.

I wanted to live in this moment for just a few minutes more, but the echoing voice of the principal calling the last few names pulled us out of our little piece of heaven. We needed to get back to the stadium before too many people noticed that Emmett was missing.

When I pulled away from him, he groaned.

"Come on. Just a little longer," he complained, smiling brilliantly up at me.

I dipped down, pecked a kiss on his lips and then stood, pulling him up with me.

"Sorry Em. I've monopolized you for too long for right now."

His face scrunched in good-natured disappointment. I laughed and put my index finger under his chin, tilting it up like he'd done so many times to me.

"But don't worry. We have forever to make up for the lost time."

With that, after brushing the leaves and dirt off of my clothes and his graduation gown, we sprinted back to the stadium. Emmett fell back in line with his classmates and I slipped into my seat, acting as if nothing had happened in the time since I'd left.

Edward and Alice turned to me; smirks and raised eyebrows dominating their faces. Ignoring them I stayed facing forward to watch the caps fly into the air.

**(Esme's POV)**

Carlisle's hand was clasped tightly in mine as two of our sons and one of our daughters walked forward to get their high school diplomas. _Again_. It didn't seem to matter how many times we attended a graduation for any of our children, because each and every time I still got this sense of pride in them and a little choked up. If I could cry, I surely would have had a few tears trickling down my face. They, right after Carlisle, were everything to me. And each time they were handed a diploma still felt like the first time to me.

And to be honest, I loved that that hadn't changed. It meant that there was still something to take pride in, no matter how many decades passed. Never had it matter that they weren't truly _my _kids either. That tiny detail didn't take away from the fact that I felt every bit their mother, just as they saw me in that light.

Selene passed in front of me not long after Rosalie and Jasper had taken hold of their diplomas. Once she was free of our row, I smiled leaning in to whisper in Carlisle's ear.

"There she goes. Impatient as ever," I said adoringly.

Carlisle chuckled in response. "I'm sure Emmett will be please though."

I laughed nodding my agreement. I was _sure_ Emmett would be ecstatic to have a distraction for a few moments while the rest of the class graduated. He was just as impatient as Selene was. And they were perfect for each other.

Smiling to myself, I turned to ask Edward something. But when I faced my son, I noted that he and Alice were snickering conspiratorially with each other.

"What are you two up to now?" I asked, snapping into mom mode.

They kept laughing quietly and shook their heads.

"You don't want to know Esme," Alice whispered to me, leaning towards me.

My eyes looked down past Edward, and took in Bella's shaking frame. She was laughing along with them. Instantly I knew what was going on. It really could only be one thing. Alice had had a vision of Em and Sel, while Edward had been listening to one or both of their minds. And then once they had started laughing, that must have attracted Bella's interest, which of course caused Edward to fill her in. Oh, Lord help them if Selene only knew how nosy her siblings were. Well, actually she already knew how they were. She'd known Edward since she was a human child, and she and Alice were generally close as sisters since Alice and Jasper showed up on our front porch decades ago.

"You really shouldn't spy on your sister. She deserves some privacy," I said, trying to sound as authoritive as I could.

This brought on a whole new round of laughter. I believe Edward even snorted somewhere in there.

"Mom, she's been spying on Bella and me since the moment she knew I was in love with her. I think a little privacy is due there as well." He retorted.

"You know she's just trying to keep an eye on you. She trusts you and she knows you have everything pretty well under control, but you know she's protective. Selene just doesn't want anything to happen to Bella, is all. You _know_ that perfectly well," I said back, leaving no more room for discussion.

My son knew I had a point. And it shut them up for the time being. Just in time too, because I saw Selene, out of the corner of my eye, slipping back into the stadium to return to her seat.

A radiant glow surrounded her features. I could see it, no matter how nonchalant and composed she was trying to act. She may have fooled the surrounding human with the fact that she had probably 'just gone up to use the restroom', but we, here family, knew much better where she'd been. But I also knew that whatever she and Emmett had been up to hadn't been everything some people might have expected it to be. Surely all the students who knew they were a couple presumed that they slept together. But the truth was that Selene was making them wait. She'd gone other routes before. Her last marriage she felt had been done all wrong. Selene wanted so much more for her and Emmett and was putting every effort into making that happen. Including holding off on 'sleeping' together until after they were married. And Emmett was just fine with that.

He'd even started everything out perfectly from the beginning, whether Selene knew it or not. Even though Carlisle and I were _both_ of their parents (I know it sounds strange, but bear with me) he'd still taken the incentive to ask our permission to ask Selene's hand in marriage before proposing to her. In my eyes, that was just about one of the cutest things any of them had done. Emmett had even seemed nervous, where he's usually one of the most confident people I know. I was proud, yet again, of him for doing that though. He knew what Selene felt was the right course to move in, and he was running right through it with her.

Standing up, once the humans all started moving around, trying to find their graduates, I pulled Carlisle behind me going to do the same thing. Edward, Selene, Bella, Alice and Connor trailed behind us as well. I could tell that Selene, Connor and Alice were getting antsy. They just wanted to get out of her, away from human eyes. And we would have to soon anyways. We'd been lucky that the cloud cover had been exceptionally thick today, even though it was the middle of June. But that luck was running out as the sun began to break its way through the fluff.

"Congrats Kitty," Carlisle said as we reached Rosalie first.

She laughed and rolled her eyes returning the hug he'd pulled her into.

"I'm proud of you Sweetheart," I said, taking my turn to hug her.

"Esme. I've graduated so many times before this. It's nothing special." She laughed.

It was so good to hear that sound coming from her. It had been so long since I'd seen her completely joyful. Things have been looking up for her ever since Connor arrived in her life. He's made her happier than I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. It made me believe that there was hope yet for Rosalie to become more pleasant to Bella in response to things falling into place for herself.

I wanted to cry again. I really did.

"It doesn't matter to me how many times you graduate Rose. Every time still feels like the first time I saw you take the diploma."

My smile widened and I kissed her on the cheek. Moving out of the way for Connor, who picked Rosalie up and swung her around the moment he got his arms around her, I followed Carlisle to where Jasper and Emmett were surrounded by everyone else off in the deeper shade of some trees.

As I was going up to Emmett to congratulate him, a couple of families were walking by, so Emmett wrapped his arms around me in a huge bear hug and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks Mom for all the support! Never could have done it without you."

He was holding back laughter, and as soon as the families were out of earshot, he let it out. He was doubled over cracking up. We all knew I had nothing to do with his getting through high school…again. Any one of my kids could sit in class, not even listen, and still pass with flying colors. That was the vampire in them, not a mom kicking their butts to do the work. But I joined in the laughter anyways and hugged him back.

"You're welcome Em," I said, playing along even though there were no longer any humans within earshot of our little gathering.

"And congrats to you as well Jasper."

I turned my smile on him and gave him a hug.

"Thank you Esme," he replied in his southern twanged voice.

I was about to say something else when Alice chirped up.

"We should probably get going you guys. The sun's going to be breaking through the clouds in about ten minutes."

Carlisle nodded. "That's probably a good idea. Let's head home and you guys can celebrate however you please." A knowing smirk crossed his lips and his hand tightened on my hip, pulling me closer.

Everybody nodded their agreement, and began walking towards the car, all involved in their own conversations. Carlisle and I trailed behind our children in silence. I loved just listening to the hum and buzz of their voices filling up the air. It soothed my mind to have their noises fill my mind and my life. A family was all I had ever wanted when I was human, a family of my own, to raise. And though I hadn't raised any of the people in front of me, I still had the maternal instinct alive inside me. They were my children, whether we were blood or not. Granted some of them are technically older than me, but that fact just never mattered. They were my kids through and through.


	2. Chapter 2: Save The Last Dance

_AN: I'd like to start out by apologizing. In my last chapter i did not give the proper credit to those who deserved it. So thank you to Stepheine Meyer for creating the world and the majority of the characters i am using now. Life would be odd without twilight._

_And a huge round a applause to the amzing person who is helping me write and edit this story: MightyBluePen! Without which, this story probably would still be sitting on my screen waiting for me to write! So thank you a whole bunch! =D_

_And without further adue, on with Chapter two! i hope you enjoy it...it was a lot of fun to write! :)_

* * *

**Chapter Two: Save The Last Dance**

**(Selene's POV)**

To be quite honest, I was actually excited for this. It had been so long since I'd been out to a club with my siblings. And the last time wasn't exactly a _great_ experience, considering Rosalie and Emmett had been in the middle of an argument, I'd been in a grouchy, screw-the-world mood and Edward was being his mop-y self at the time. Yeah, not really the good nature you wanted to be in to go clubbing. But this time would be different. We were all more than happy, and everyone had a dance partner this time, hence my eager excitement as I sat in the passenger's seat of my own Acura.

That really hadn't made me too happy, having someone else drive my car, but I'd gotten over it after the first few miles. Emmett had insisted he drive since we couldn't take his Jeep. Well I couldn't say no to him, so there he was, hands on the steering wheel of my favorite car, carting the two of us with Edward and Bella in the back seat.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, I grinned. Alice had gotten Bella into a sparkly denim skirt and a royal blue halter-top, also dabbing some make-up into place. My sister had wanted her to wear heels as well, but that's where Bella had drawn the line and I had jumped in to save her from being pressured into them. I could tell Edward was very fond of the appearance Alice had created, even without the high-heels. Though, I'm positive he would have been fond of whatever she'd been wearing regardless of whether it was club appropriate or not.

Turning around in my seat, I tucked my legs up under me and faced my brother.

"So," I said, dragging the word out, "are you planning on actually_ dancing_ tonight Eddy?"

Edward grimaced at my use of the nickname. He absolutely hated being called Eddy, making me smirk at him. It was funny how much I could get away with where he was concerned. If Emmett had called him that, there would have been a car accident on the side of the road for us to clean up. Trust me, it's happened before.

He turned to Bella and chuckled at the terrified look on her face.

"No, Sel. I don't believe we'll be dancing tonight." A sheepish grin spread across his face. I raised an eyebrow and started in on a taunt.

_Be careful Bro. Don't get carried away. _I mentally tease Edward.

Laughter slipped through my lips and Edward glared at me. Emmett glanced at me from the corner of his eyes, but just smirked and kept his eyes on the road. Bella looked from Edward to me and then back to Edward.

"What?"

Edward continued to glare at me as he took Bella's hand and kissed her cheek. He whispered in her ear, "Just Selene being Selene. Not something you really wanted to hear."

Rolling my eyes, I reached over my seat and slapped the shoulder opposite the side Bella was on. A _crack_ ran through the whole car as my hand made contact with his shoulder. He reached over and rubbed his shoulder, laughing.

Emmett's laughter vibrated the whole car as his right hand squeezed my shoulder and messaged the skin that wouldn't give under his touch. This all made Bella start laughing as well. She leaned into Edward's shoulder and tried to compose herself, unsuccessfully. Blood flooded her cheeks and turned them scarlet.

"Bells, breathe." I chuckled.

Just in time for us to pull into the parking lot of the club, Bella gasped a couple times, and then she was able to get a hold of herself. Patting her shoulder, and shaking my head, I slipped out of the car in one fluid movement. Taking Emmett's hand, I moved us both towards the entrance, almost skipping. Entering a club was always better holding the hand of the sexiest guy alive. The moved closer to motion us to pull out our IDs but something in our eyes made the burly guy flinch and take a step back. He waved us on through quickly to my delight. We had a fake ID for Bella so that wouldn't have been a big deal but it was a pain in the butt to have to fish out my ID from my bra. A purse simply does not work at a dance club.

The music was pounding and vibrating the floor of the building underneath our feet as Alice and I danced, staying in sight of Emmett and Jazz who were sitting at the bar. They weren't drinking, of course, but they each had ordered something to keep up appearances. Our men watched us as Alice and I twisted and turned, raising our hands, jumping and pounding our fists in the air with the music. We were laughing and smiling the whole time we were moving around, having a great time.

I didn't understand it, but Emmett hadn't danced with me at all tonight. I'd danced with Alice, Jasper and I'd even pulled Edward over for one song while Alice sat with Bella. Alice had danced with Emmett and Jasper. But not once had Emmett danced with me. Honestly, it did bug me a little bit. My own fiancé wouldn't dance with me. What the hell was _that_? How was I supposed to make every girl in the place jealous of me if I wasn't allowed to show off my prize. Unfair!

And, because of the pounding music, I was having a hard time zeroing in on individual thoughts. The only one I could hear and single out was Edward, and I was pretty sure that was due to the fact that we both could read each other's minds. I didn't like not knowing what was going through Emmett's mind, especially under the circumstances. We'd danced together in the past, so I just didn't understand.

When the song ended, Alice smiled and went over to join Jazz at the bar, hip-checking Em out of his seat next to her husband. Emmett stood, mock glaring at his little sister and moved towards the dance floor.

Just as I thought he was going to join me, three teenage girls swarmed in front of him. Two were blonde, one short and the other around Em's height, and the third was a brunette about as tall as the smaller blonde. The tall blonde stuck her hip out to the side and began twirling her long hair around her right index finger, staring at Emmett. I could tell from the way she held her body that way that her, probably blue, eyes were running the length of Emmett's body. Struggling, I pushed past all the noise and broke into her mind.

Every square inch of her thoughts were on Emmett. She was mentally undressing him, enjoying the images her mind was creating for her. This caused a small growl to escape my lips and I glared at the back of her flowing blonde head.

"So what's your name?" She laughed as she spoke as if there was something funny about her question. The way her words slurred together slightly, I could tell she'd had a drink or two thus far tonight.

Emmett's eyes stayed on her face, not daring to even glance any lower, he replied, "Damon. Damon Salvatore."

This made my glare melt just a little and allow a laugh escape my lips. The fact that _Emmett_ of all people knew the characters from _The_ _Vampire Diaries_ was the strangest, but funniest thing ever. But, I guess since we are vampires ourselves, he _would_ make it his business to keep up with the latest vampire hype in the world.

By this time, I'd made my way around so that I was able to see the girl's face. She squinted her, I was right, blue eyes, clearly unable to see straight, and cocked her head to the side.

"You're cute," she reached out for his arms, running a finger down his muscles first, "but I don't think you're a vampire." A flirty smile was painted on her red lips as she smirked.

Ironic. She was talking to a vampire more real than Damon and Stefan Salvatore, and she didn't think he was one. But I had to admit; the twit did make me laugh. I was also a little impressed that the girl even knew how to read well enough to recognize that name from a book about teenage vampires. Oh, but that slipped away quickly when she turned, taking his hand, abandoned her friend and led Emmett into the middle of the floor. My eyes followed them until she stopped. Without even pausing to see if he was willing to dance, she stood in front of him and started moving her hips, pressing her skinny ass against his legs.

Huffing in irritation, I turned and stalked off towards the sitting area, joining Edward and Bella in their booth to sulk.

**(Alice's POV)**

Coming out to the club was a fantastic idea! Granted, the extreme stench of sweaty human and alcohol saturating the air wasn't exactly pleasant because of how much stronger it was to us, but after the first few minutes I was able to block out the nasty scent. The music was loud and I could feel the beat pounding into the foundation of the building, but I loved the noise. It was escalated due to our vampire hearing, but it was still fun to be enveloped by the atmosphere and just dance with my husband and siblings.

Rosalie and Connor had snuck off somewhere just an hour after we'd arrived. I hadn't really found it necessary to try and find where they were though, or even try and search my visions for them. Frankly I was kind of scared to walking in, or look in on what they were mostly likely doing.

Shivering at the thought, I search the crowd, spotting Emmett dancing with some blonde girl that most definitely _wasn't _Selene. She was wearing one of those tube tops that didn't cover her stomach at all, and a skirt that was way too short. That alone made it obvious that it wasn't his fiancé with him. My sister had better ways to show herself off without resorting to skimpy clothes. Where was she then?

I searched the room and landed on the booth where Edward and Bella were sitting, now accompanied by none other than Selene. Edward and Bella were gazing soulfully into each other's eyes completely oblivious to a sulking Selene sitting with them trying her best to stab at some leftover ice in a glass with a stir stick. The corners of her eyes were scrunched in a discreet, repressed glare, and her lips were in a thin, controlled grimace. Selene's chin was resting on her hands that were folded with her elbows set on the table. No human would notice, but the tendons in her fingers were tightened as if she was clenching her fingers harder than necessary. Shifting my gaze back to Emmett again, I understood what was going on.

"Uh oh," I whispered to myself.

Pressure squeezed my fingers and I looked to my right, into the topaz eyes of my soul mate.

"What is it?"

My frozen skin tingled with the sound of his southern drawl. That feeling never failed.

I shook my head in concern and whispered, "Emmett and Selene. It appears that Em's decided to be very cruel tonight. He hasn't danced with Selene at all so far."

Japer laughed.

"What?"

"Just think it's funny. We never quite have a perfect night out at the club. We've managed to avoid," he paused searching for the right word, "issues. For everyone else there has always been some complication."

This made me join him in laughing. It was true. Jasper and I were the only ones who had managed to avoid problems of any sort when it came to club nights. Sure the club wasn't exactly Jazz's scene, but he was good at grinning and bearing with the things I did. Though, at the same time, I knew he always had a good time anyways.

Still laughing, I asked, "Do you remember the first time we ever came clubbing with the family? The first time you made it through a whole night without even being bothered too much by the scent of human blood?"

Jasper smirked, kissing my cheek and whispered in my ear. "We don't forget anything remember?" He pulled away and tapped the side of his head. "It's almost impossible."

All I could think about was that night. It had been a night full of first for our family. All of them were good. Memories that our family could actually look back on and be glad that it happened- ones that still make us smile now, decades later.

**~Maine, 1955~**

My finger traced one of the many crescent scars on Jasper's arm as we sat off to the side of the flashing dance floor. His hand clasped mine, resting them on my skirt clad lap. Every once in a while he'd apply slightly more pressure, restraining himself from the smell of the blood in the humans all around us. I was proud of him though. For five years we'd been members of the Cullen family. I'd only slipped up once or twice in that time, both in the first year. Jasper had had a harder time than me, or any of the others had had.

It destroyed him every time he slipped up. Jasper hated feeling weak, but he was trying his hardest. And I had faith in him. One day he'd be able to go out and completely ignore the burn, I was confident of it.

Tonight, along with family bonding, was sort of a test for Jasper. The club was packed full of teenagers dressed in their slacks, skirts blouses, bows, dress shirts, and so far Jasper had been doing well.

After inhaling a longer breath, and flinching from the burn, he stood, pulling me up gently with him.

"Would you like to dance miss Cullen?" His smile was strained, but genuine.

"Why, of course I would Mr. Hale!" I giggled at our formality.

As soon as I'd spoken, he pulled me closer spinning me before taking my other hand. After that, I didn't see him flinch once. Jasper's and my eyes were locked on each other as our feet moved us around the floor. I couldn't stop smiling. I was _so_ proud of him. He was doing so well with handling all the humans at such a close proximity. And I hadn't seen a single vision of a slip up.

Turning my head to examine the rest of the dancers, I saw Emmett twirling Rosalie in dizzying circles, and Selene and Edward doing absolutely nothing serious with their dancing. All they were doing were swinging and circling, but huge smiles were plastered on their lips, and that made me smile even more.

It was actually the first time I'd seen those to genuinely having a good time. In the five years that Jasper and I had been part of the family, those two had been practically doom and gloom. Sure Selene had smiled a few times, and they'd played the piano practically everyday, but they were pretty much the black clouds of the family. Not to mention they were the only ones without mates. Selene was hiding something about that. Jasper could feel that whenever we tried to ask about her past, but we never pressed hard enough to get answers.

So it was really good to see them smiling and laughing- having a good time.

Jasper swung me around for a little longer, and he finally laughed, complimenting my own laughter. Once a few songs went by, he pulled me off to a darker corner of the building. We passed about twenty couples, all making out and really getting into some inappropriate things for being in public still. And once we were alone, he bent down and stole a quick kiss.

"Jasper," I murmured after he pulled away, "have I told you lately that I love you?"

"You might have mentioned that once or twice, _today_." His smile was dazzling as he stared at me.

"What are you waiting for Jazz? Just ask," I said, giving him a small, ecstatic smile.

Jasper laughed and then sighed.

"I can't get anything past you can I, my beautiful little future seer?"

A kiss was planted on my nose. Then he backed up a step, kneeling down to get down on one knee and reached to the back pocket of his slacks. Jasper's hand came back with a small black velvet box.

Opening it, revealing a gold band with a sparkling diamond on top, he asked "Alice Cullen, I love you and will continue to love you for the rest of eternity. Will you make me the happiest person, vampire and human alike, by becoming my wife?"  
I could feel my excitement grow, though I'd seen this already just this morning. My grin spread from ear to ear. I threw my arms around Jasper's neck and kissed him.

"Yes!" I squealed.

He slipped the ring into place on my ring finger and then kissed it. Then we stayed there for a few more minutes, just kissing in the darkened corner.

"Uh hmm," someone cleared their throat behind me, making me and Jasper slip apart from each other.

"May we help you Selene?" Jasper asked, looking over my head.

I turned around to see her standing there, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

"So what's going on here?" I could hear the smile in her voice, and it was evident that she was retaining a laugh.

Grinning at her, I just held my left hand out for her to see the ring now resting there. Her eyes widened in faux surprise and a wide smile took over her face.

In a fashion that was very much _not_ Selene, she squealed and threw her arms around me.

"Congratulations you two! I'm happy for you!"

"Thanks Selene!"

You're very welcome Alice

**~Washington, 2005~**

After that, we had told the rest of the family and had spent the rest of the night celebrating Jasper's and my first engagement. It had been the first time I'd actually felt close to the rest of the family. They'd welcomed Jasper and me with open arms, but it had always been a little tense, at least until that night. Ever since then, no matter how different we were or different problems we ran into, we were still a tight knit family.

That made me think of the situation at hand. Glancing at Jasper I kissed his cheek and slipped into the crowd, going towards Selene.

"What Alice?" she hissed before I'd gotten to the table.

"Why aren't you dancing with Emmett?" I asked, ignoring the slightly menacing undertone to her hiss.

My sister groaned and messaged the bridge of her nose.

"I don't know. He's pretty much ignored me all night," she sounded like she couldn't choose between ignoring it, being sad or being mad. I'm sure she was a little bit of all. So I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the floor.

"Selene. You're beautiful, I know you know it, and you're kind…"

"Alice, hun, where are you going with this?"

"I'm getting there!" I laughed, "but though you're kind, you're also the most intimidating girl in the world. No human girl can stand up to you. Seriously, go get your man!"

To my surprise, my sister laughed at this and smiled.

"You're right Alice." She kissed my cheek and gave me a hug. "Thanks sis."

"You're quite welcome Selene."

**(Selene's POV)**

After Alice's little pep talk of sorts, I marched straight to where Emmett was now dancing shorter blonde.

I started dancing right next to them and ended up hip checking the blonde. Her back went stalk straight and turned to glare at me.

"Uh! You want to watch where you're-" as soon as she fully caught a glance of me she shut her mouth _real _quick.

I smiled at her in a polite, but dangerous way.

"Um…uh…I…" she couldn't decide what to say.

So, averting my gaze from her, I leveled Emmett with a raised eyebrow.

"Emmett! Are you almost ready to go home?" I asked sweetly and innocently.

The girl's mouth dropped as she looked from me to him. Then her eyes dropped to my left hand and zeroed in on the ring resting on the ring finger.

"Oh my," she whispered. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she ducked her head down. "Um, sorry." Then she scooted away, but before she could get to far, I stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. She froze and turned to look at me from the corner of her eyes.

"No worries. It's all good."

A shy, nervous smile answered me, and then she scuttled away.

Then I turned back to Emmett, crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow, awaiting an explanation.

He spread his arms wide and smiled like a child who'd been caught doing something wrong.

"Hey Babe…" he said, drawing out the word.

"Explanation…?" I asked.

"Well…you know I love you right?" He said, trying to redirect the conversation. I wasn't letting him off that easy.

"Uh huh…so what was with the dancing with other girls and _not_ your _fiancé_?" I asked.

Monitoring his mind I saw him projecting the truth as he said it.

"I couldn't dance with you yet. I had to dance with the other girls first."

"Oh _really_?"

He moved forward to put his hands on my shoulders and look me in the eyes.

"And why is _that_?" I asked.

"Because, Selene, I had to save the best for last. All the other girls were building up until I got up to the most beautiful and amazing girl in this whole place. Saving the _best_ for last."

"Saving the last dance," I whispered, a tiny smile beginning to take form on my lips.

Emmett nodded, moving his arms to wrap them around my waist, pulling me towards him. I then wrapped my arms around his neck in turn just as a slow song came on. Sub-consciously I remembered it from somewhere, and my feet began moving in a familiar pattern. All my irritation melted away as I moved with Emmett to the sound of the song.

"…_And suddenly I know why life is worthwhile. That's what I see through your eyes..."_

And as the song picked up a little, he twirled me out and brought me back to him. At that moment I realized what song it was. It was _Looking Through Your Eyes_, our song. The first one Emmett and I had ever danced to together.

"…_Underneath the open sky with you forever…"_

Smiling, I leaning my head onto his shoulder and let Emmett completely take over, swaying us back and forward. The night had started out frustratingly, but now it was perfect. I was in Emmett's arms, and we were dancing to our song. I couldn't think of a more perfect way to end the night.

"I love you Emmett."

"I love you too Selene. And I will love you for forever and a day."

Closing my eyes, I was enveloped in his love. Nothing else mattered. Vaguely off to the side I saw a flash, as if from a camera, but I ignored it. I was in a place that was way better than worrying about what Alice was doing. Emmett really knew how to drive me to all ends of my patience, but he also knew how to be the sweetest thing to ever touch the face of the earth. _Saving the last dance_. How much cuter could he get?


End file.
